williams



;L. L. WILLIAMS. FOLDING SEAT. APPLICATION FILED MAY 17. 191 3 mmnmm Patented June 24, 191

witnessed,

L. L. WILLIAMS.

FOLDING SEAT. APPLICATION mm MAY 17. 1913 1,307,840. iutcnm'l J 11119 24, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I ll L. L. WILLIAMS. FOLDING SEAT. APPLICATION FILED MAYIZ, 1919-:

1,807,840., Patented June 24., 1919.

' L. 1.. WILLIAMS.

FOLDING SEAT.

' APPLICATION FILED MAY 1?. I9I3. I I @U'YZIQ, IuIenIed J une 24, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- The main object of attain tno :t. WILLIAMS,OF otsvntann, onto, assmuoa, er intents assrenuunrs, ro.

written. is. annexe-own,

sotnitio woman.

description.

7 This invention relates to folding; seats and particularly to auxiliary folding seats for motor vehicles such as of the seven-passenger type, which are commonly provided, in addition to the front ahd rear seats, with some form of-auiii'liary seat or seats generally mounted for swinging or folding movement in the body between the front and rear seats. the present invention is to provide an auxiliary automobile seat which can lie-easily and quickly placed in position for use or compaetly folded out of the way, and which is securely supported without the necessity for rear supports which i'night interfere with restrict the space for the the passengers occupying;

the comfort of or feet and limbs of the rear seat.

. i The seat constructed in accordance with the preferred form of my in position for use is supported solely by up- A 30, 'heldin a substantially and in fixed relationship with these upright front legs by means 'Flhe parts swinging invention when right front supports or legs and the seat is horizontal position of interlocking parts in the form of jaws, which are connected re spectively' to the front part of the seat and to the upper ends of said supporting legs. are so arranged that by simply the seat to a'horizontal position arts interlock, and to release the seat thep be again folded or swung so that it may downwardly all that it is necessary to do is to first swing the seat upwardly to a certain position beyond the horizontal so as to cause the locking parts to be moved out of the locking relationship, after which theseat canbe swung downwardly to a position The is adapted to be folded out of the way into a recess in the baclr of the front seat. The seat and the folding parts are arranged so that said seat wardly into the said recess and when so folded is substantially flush with the wall in whioh'the recess [is formed. llurthermore,

"the seat is arranged at such an angle with when in position for use the car showing the arrangement of two foldbody and with respect tothe :front and rear can be folded for,

Patented dune 234i, Mild.

application filed May 1'7, 1913. herial No. resale.

respect to the longitudinal axis of the car that when two are employed there is ample space between the same, and at the, same time said seats may be, folded forwardly intotheir respective recesses without 60 the necessity of first moving them laterally to enable them to be folded into the recesses in such a way that they will be substantially 'flllSl'l with the curved back of the front seat.

My invention maybe briefly stuni'nariried to as consisting in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrange hients of :parts, which will be desoribedin the specification and set forth in the append: .ed claims. i In the accompanying sheets ofdrawings, wherein l have shown the preferred embodiment of my intention, Figure l is a. perspective view of a portion of the car showing one of the folding seats in position for use. his. 2 is aplan view of the rear portion of ing seats with respect to the axis of the car seats, the front portion of the rear seat-being so shownand the back of the front seat being shown. Fig. 3 is a front view of the folding seat in upright position, parts being in sec tion. Fig; l is partial plan view of the lower hinge portion of the seat support with parts in section. Fig. 5 is a sideview of the folding seat showing by dotted lines the manner in which it may be folded into the recess in the back of the front seat.' Fig.6 I is an enlarged side'view with parts in seeso tion. of a portion of the seat. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the same with parts broken. away. 7 Figs. 8 and 9 are side views, and Fig.

10 is an end view of one of the locking mein- =1 hers which holds the seatin normal position at,

for use; and Fignll is a side viewand Fig. 12 an end view ofthe locking member which coiiperates with the lockinginember shown in Figs. 8,9 and i0. I y

lln the drawings, reference being bad first 100 to his; 1 and 2, 10 represents a portion of ,a motor vel 'cle which is provided with a rear seat 11 and a froiiitseat 12, the back or rear pertion of which is shown in Figs. 1 andf2. In the bod v of the ear between. the front ME and rear seats are two of the auxiliary fold-- ins; seats l.3,.the arrangement of which with respect to the other part}; of the car being showniu l ipgs. l. and 2. l

The seats 13, when not louse, as each lit? adapted to be folded forward into a recess, 12, in the back of the front seat. It Will be observed that as is usually the case the back of the front seat 12 is curved or rounded,

and that the seats are adapted to be folded into the round portions thereof. In order that the folding seats may be folded into the recesses so that the backs of the former may be substantially flush with the wall into which the recesses are formed, and in order to provide ample space between the folding seats, and at the same time do away with interference between the seats and side walls of the car when the seats are folded forwardly, the latter have their axes of movement arranged at angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the c: r as best shown in Considering now the construction of the seat it will be observed that each seat includes a bottom board, 14, which is hinged .at its frontend just at the rear of the recess into which the seat is to be folded. This bottom board lies along the bottom of the body when the seat is extended or in position for use, and when the seat is folded away into the recess this portion covers the opening and is substantially flush with the wall into which the recess is formed. The folding seat includes the seat proper or base 15, and the back 16. The seat part or base 15 is supported from the bottom board 14, by a pair of legs 17, which are hinged to the rear portion of the bottom board 14, and to the front part of the seat base 15. This leaves practically the entire space beneath the scat free of obstructions or of upright supporting members, which would interfere with the movement of the feet and limbs of the passengers occupying the rear scat 11. A lug 17 at the lower part of each of the legs 17 limits the rearward swinging movement of the leg. and this lug engages the rear portion of the bottom board 14. or of a suitable strip carried thereby when the leg is in a substantially vertical position, or slightly beyond the vertical as shown in Fig. 5. To provide a suitable resistance to pre vent the legs swinging forwardly, due to the swaying or more or less sudden nmvements of the car, the lower part of each leg is provided with a lug 17" (see Fig. 3) which engages into a notch of a collar 17, which is splined to a rod 17, and is yieldingly pressed toward the leg by a spring 17".

The back 16 includes a back rest 16*, and arms 16', which are hinged or pivotallyconnected to the rear portion of the scat base 15. Suitable lugs 16 (see Figs.5 and 6) on the arms. and on the seat base 15 limit the rearward swinging movement of said arms relative to the seat base. The back rest. 16 may be slidably connected to the arms 16. so that the former may be lowered toward the seat base 15 when it is desired to fold the seat structure into the recess. To hold the back either in upright position or in position substantially parallel to the seat base 15, a spring pressed pawl 18 (see Fig. (3) carried by the seat base is adapted to enter into one of a pair of suitable spaced notches 18 in the bases of the arms 16", when the back is up, or when the back is down.

A very important part of my invention consists in the manner of locking the scat proper or seat base in operative position when it is swung upwardly, and in the manner in which the same may be unlocked so that it may be swung downwardly to inoperative position, and this will now be described.

It will be observed by reference particularly to Figs. (3 to 12. that the seat base is supported in horizontal position, or in position for use, by the legs 17 together with two sets or pairs of cooperating locking members 20 and 21 provided on thcir adjacent faces with jaws or teeth which are adapted to interlock. The locking members 20 consist of hubs or bosses which are formed on the upper ends of the legs 17. and are provided with openings through which passes frccly a rod 22, which is non-rolatably supported on the lower front side of the seal base 15. and constitutes the pivotal connecting means betwccn the scat base and the legs 17.

The locking members 21 consist of slcevcs or collars which are splincd to the rod 22 so as to be capable of endwise but not rotary movement thereon, and which are pressed yicldingly touard the members 20 by coil springs 23 surroumling the rod.

The teeth on the members 20 and 21 each have one face spirally inclined or lapcrcd and the other abrupt, and are so disposed that the seat may be swung upwardly, aml when it reaches substantially horizontal position, the two locking members of each pair snap togctl'icr in locked engagement and hold the scat base firmly in that position.

In connection with the locking means above dcscribed, 1 ha vc provided mcans by which the seat may be released and swun downwardly as easil as it is-swung up wardly to operative position. 'lmis is accomplished by devices which hold the locking members out o cooperative relationship when the said members have been spread apart by raising the seat base to a certain position above the horizontal, until the end of the teeth of members 21 ride up onto the ends of the teeth of members 20.

It will be observed by reference particularly to Figs. 6 to 12. that the locking members 21 are provided at a suitable distance from their inner ends with peripheral notches 24, and that the seat base is provided adjacent its lower front corners with spring pressed pawls 25, each provided at its free end with a nose 25% each of which is laterally displacd from the notch 24 of the corresponding locking member 21 when the members 20 and 21 are in looking engagement, as shown in Fig. 7 When, her -.ver, the seat is raised to a position about 45 above the horizontal, and the teeth of the members 20 and 21 ride up onto each other end to end, causing the members 21 to be moved inwardly away from the members 20, so that the teeth no longer interlock, the ends 25* of the two pawls snap into the notches 24 of the two locking members 21, so as to revent said members 21 from moving inwardly toward, the the seat is again swung downwardly to and below the horizontal position. VJhen the seat is swung downwardly through a suitable angle beyond the horizontal, the pawls 25 engage cam like projections 26 on the .bosses 20 of the legs. 17, and are moved outwardly from the notches 24 so as to per init the members 21 to again move inwardly toward the members 20. The teeth will not interlock, however, so as to prevent the seat base being swung downwardly into parallelism with the legs 17.

Preferably, the two teeth or locking projections on each of themembers 20 and 21 are of slightly unequal lengths, so that when the seat is swung downwardly from its upper position towhich it was swung to release the locking members, the teeth of the two members 20 and 21 may pass each other, as

the members 21 are turned relatively to the members 20, and will not strike or engage each other, as might be the case ifthe teeth were all of the same length.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1s:

what

body, an auxiliary folding seat comprising a plurality of folding ':parts including av member plvotally'connected to the floor .of the body at its front end, and adapted to extend rearwardly along the floor, seat supporting legs pivotally connected to the rear end of the said member and adapted to be swung upwardly to upright position, a seat base having its front portion pivotally connected to said legs, from a position substantially parallel to said legs upwardly to a positionfor use, and interlocking means carried by the seat base and by said legs adjacent that portion of the seat base and legs where they are pivoted to each other by which the seat base is rigidly supported by said legs when the seat base 15 swung to substantially horizontal position.

2. In combination in a folding seat, a seat base, seat supporting legs pivotally connected to the front part of the seat base, and means for holding the seat base and legs in :tively toward and away members 20 when 1. In combination in a motor vehicle, a

and adapted to be swung of locking members carrled by said legs and seat base respectively adjacent that portion of the seat and legs where they are pivoted to each other, and adapted to be moved relafrom each other into or out of'locking engagement.

8. In combination in a folding seat, a seat base, a pair of seat supporting legs pivotally connected to the seat base at the front portion thereof, means by which the seat base may be rigidly supported by said legs with the seat base in sltlritantially horizontal position, comprising i terlocking members carried by the seat base and legs respectively, and movable relatively toward and away from eachother, and means for holding said members out of locking engagement when the seat base is swung to a certain position. 4. In combination in a folding seat, a seat base, seat. supporting legs pivotally connected to the front part of the seat base, means by which the seat is held rigidly in substantially horizontal position comprising interlocking parts carried by the seat base and legs respectively, and movable relatively toward and away from each other, and means comprising pawls which hold the locking members apart when the seat is swung upwardly b'e'ybhd horizontal position so as to permit the seat to be swung downwardly into substantial l parallelism with the legs.

5., In an automobile, a disappearing seat, comprising a seat carrier fixedly hinged at one end in line with the attermentioned recess and of an area sutlicient to close said recess, a seat supporting upright hinged to the said carrier at the free end of said carrier and foldable' upon said carrier, a seat frame hinged to the upper end of the upright and foldable upon the upright, means for supporting, the seat in its open position and organized and disappearing with the seat parts, and a seat back pivotally mounted to the rear of the seat frame and foldable thereupon, combined with an opposite seat containing; the aforementioned recess into which the hereinabove mentioned scat supporting upright, the seat frame, the support For the seat in its open position and the seat back when folded may disappear, seat carrier at such time wholly closing said recess and concealing therein the said folded parts.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

. LEO L. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

I1. I. Ponren, A. F. Kwrs.

the

Elli 

